Over 30 Mn Children Acutely Malnourished In 15 Worst-Affected Countries, 8 Mn Severely Wasted

Conflict, climate shocks, the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, and rising costs of living are leaving increasing numbers of children acutely malnourished, warn United Nations agencies.

Acute malnutrition is threatening the lives of more than 30 million children in the 15 countries hardest hit by an unprecedented food and nutrition crisis, United Nations agencies has warned while calling for urgent action to protect them. Concerningly, 8 million of these children are severely wasted, the deadliest form of undernutrition, the agencies revealed in a joint release.

The agencies cited conflict, climate shocks, the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, and rising costs of living as factors contributing to increasing numbers of acutely malnourished children. Additionally, they pointed out key health, nutrition and other life-saving services are becoming less accessible.

"Wasting or acute malnutrition is a major threat to children's lives and to their long-term health and development, the impacts of which are felt by individuals, their communities and their countries," the agencies noted in the release.

Accelerating Global Action Planin the 15 worst-affected countries

Five UN agencies the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) is responding to the crisis by accelerating the Global Action Plan on Child Wasting, which aims to prevent, detect and treat wasting globally.

They are focusing on the worst-affected countries, which are Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, the Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Yemen.

The Global Action Plan highlights priority actions across maternal and child nutrition through the food, health, water and sanitation, and social protection systems. The UN agencies have also identified five priority actions that will be effective in addressing acute malnutrition in countries affected by conflict and natural disasters and in humanitarian emergencies.

We must act now and we must act together

Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Qu Dongyu expressed concern that the situation may deteriorate even further in 2023.

He underscored the need to ensure availability, affordability and accessibility of healthy diets for young children, girls, and pregnant and lactating women to tackle "the root causes of acute malnutrition."

In severe cases, wasting can lead to death or permanent damage to children's growth and development, said Catherine Russell, Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

" We must act now and we must act together," asserted David Beasley, Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP).

WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that urgent support is needed in the hardest hit countries to protect children's lives and health, such as ensuring critical access to healthy foods and nutrition services, especially for women and children.